James Hayden and “Shermer’s neck” (english version)

Gabriela Moldovan

I believe all of Transcontinental Race participants are heroes. Even those who dropped out, because only the idea to embark on such a race requires a courage that not many people have.

But in TRCNO3 2015 edition I was most impressed by James Hayden.

James Hayden was one of the favorites, was the first to arrive at the checkpoint no. 1 at Mont Ventoux after 40 hours from the start. It also passed the checkpoint No. 2, almost without rest breaks.

Problems began in Croatia when James Hayden start to feel pain in the neck muscles. Actually he felt something called “Shermer’s Neck”, a condition that sometimes occurs at super endurance cyclists after attending several hundreds or thousands of Km.

Basically, the neck muscles lose their ability to support the weight of the head, strong pains occurs even at a light touch and the head get to stay “hung” by the neck and could not be raised.

A secondary result is that because of the position of the “fallen” head rider can not only see a small portion of the right front wheel of the bicycle.

Un rezultat secundar este că, din cauza poziției “căzute” a capului biciclistul nu mai poate vedea decât o mică porțiune din dreptul roții din față a bicicletei.

Here you can read “Shermer’s Neck”

James Hayden took a break, even tried to fix the head with adhesive tape (a man can fix anything if it has a handy roll of duct tape ) strategy that unfortunately did not work so he was forced to withdraw at Podgorica, after riding 3093 Km, leaving those who followed the race, an amazing impression how someone can overcome his own limitations.